Delights of Cordoba

I was up and out early this morning in order to visit the Mezquita at 0830.  You can go in for free for an hour and I hoped to beat the large numbers of visitors this way.  When you enter the buiding you walk through a forest of pillars and arches of the old mosque.  There was a road sweeper type vehicle cleaing the floors.

No tripods are allowed so I had to resort to high ISO.

My next visit was to the ancient city of Madinat al-Zahra which is 8km from Cordoba.  You take a bus to the museum where you see an audiovisual display which explains the site. Then another bus to the ruins.  I found this area lacking in explanation boards and the renovations were rather rough in places. 

Back to Cordoba and I visited the Mezquita again. Now the Cathedral part was open to visitors.  I came upon this group of tourists who were on a guided tour. At the front, a guide is giving information in English, using brief sentences, then their own guide is translating, at great length.  I wish I understood.

As you can see the whole group is interested and engaged in hearing about the statues of the saints!! In the background you can see some of the Islamic arches.